“Squid Game 2” Director Praises T.O.P’s “Guts” For Playing Character With Substance Abuse Issues After Drug Scandal
Spoiler Alert
Squid Game 2 was officially released on Netflix on December 26. The latest season shows Lee Jung Jae returning as Seong Gi Hun to lead a new all-star cast into the next round of deadly games.
The cast has been a hot topic since its release, including ex-BIGBANG‘s T.O.P. T.O.P played Thanos, a rapper who lost money in a scam cryptocurrency investment, receiving negative reviews about his performance.
His reception worldwide versus in Korea has also been discussed as well.
Recently, the idol-actor received praise directly from the season’s director for taking on the role.
In an interview with PEOPLE, director Hwang Dong Hyuk talked about the star’s role, calling it his comeback following his previous drug scandal. In July 2017, T.O.P was given a 10-month jail sentence and a two-year suspension from his mandatory military service after he was found guilty of using marijuana.
Hwang shared that he felt that it took a lot of courage for the star to play the character with a lot of similar characteristics and who has substance abuse issues, as shown in the show.
I feel that it took him a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too. So I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.
— Hwang
He also revealed his thoughts on T.O.P’s acting after a long hiatus, praising him for his performance.
Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character.
— Hwang
You can read more about T.O.P’s character below.
T.O.P Seemingly References BIGBANG In “Squid Game 2,” Despite Previous Issues
